Friday

The Redruth section of the Saltwater Creek Walking and Cycling path will reopen on Friday following work to deal with leachate issues.

The opening, from noon on Friday, follows work to deal with standing water on the site as well as a project to connect the 1940s landfill to the more modern leachate management system.

A full risk assessment has also been undertaken by the council to better manage any future leachate issues and avoid further large scale closures.

Waste Minimisation Manager, Ruth Clarke, said that the team had been working hard to get the popular track reopened.

“The issues caused by the extreme weather at the end of last year meant we had to bring forward existing plans to connect our older landfill to the leachate management system. Now that’s in place it should reduce the likelihood and severity of any further issues.

“We’d like to thank the community for their patience while we worked to both solve the immediate issue and put in place a longer term solution.

“Our independent risk assessment has shown that any risk to human health from contact with the leachate is low. If any future minor seepages occur we’ll be able to fence off smaller areas of standing water to limit any possible contact by people or animals.”

Part of the remediation was to create a new drain around the landfill, which has removed all standing water from the edge of the walkway.

There is a longer term plan to cap the landfill to ensure less water ingress in future. Both these projects were budgeted for in the council Long Term Plan.

Another walking track in the area has also reopened. The adjacent path leading into Redruth Park is also now open following the harvesting of pine trees.

Bill Steans, Parks and Recreation manager thanked all users for their patience and cooperation during the period of closure.

“The redevelopment of the Park will include the development of new walkway and cycle way linkages from Hectors Coastal Track to Collins St, Redruth St and Leckie St which will be undertaken before Winter.

“This coming spring, the areas from which trees were removed will be replanted into native species to compliment plantings already in place between the cemetery and Redruth Park, and walkway areas further south.

“At a later date the remaining Macrocarpa trees along the eastern side of Redruth Park and other non-native trees along the north side of the Park will be removed and these areas will also be planted into natives providing a unified look over the whole area and enhancement of the environment into the future.”

© Scoop Media